Fun Facts

For 30 years, Marian McPartland has hosted top jazz musicians for conversation and live jazz performances on National Public Radio’s weekly “Piano Jazz” program.  A musical prodigy herself, McPartland received a Grammy in 2004 for her work as an educator, writer and host of her NPR program.

In May 2012, Rosie Napravnik became the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks, the fillies’ counterpart to the Kentucky Derby.  She was riding Believe You Can.  In 2011, she finished second riding St. John’s River.

Jane Lubchenco, PhD, became the first woman and first marine ecologist to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration when she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 19, 2009.

An important figure in the Modoc War of 1872-1873, the Winema National Forest is named for Native American Winema (c. 1848 – 1932).

An anti-slavery lecturer, Sarah Remond first came to public notice in 1853 when she was ejected from a Boston theater for refusing to sit in the segregated gallery.

The first woman to serve on the board of directors of a major American corporation,  Lettie Pate Whitehead began her service on the Coca-Cola board of directors in 1934.

Hedy Lamarr was an actress whose patent for a “secret communication system” is today known as spread spectrum or frequency hopping is used in cell phones, wireless Internet, mobile health systems, bar code scanning, and satellite-guides missiles.